History

There is, sadly, very little documentation available at present on the earliest days of the North Sea Armed Forces Lodge. In all probability it began in the early 1950s as a Square and Compass Club; a group of Masons meeting together for research and friendship, but without the necessary authority to Initiate, Pass or Raise Masons. Following the end of the Second World War many such Clubs sprang up in Germany, often moving from France into the military areas occupied and, later, overseen by the four main military powers. Bremerhaven, although officially in the British area, was used by the American forces as their main seaport, and was of vital importance, alongside the various airfields, for the movement of troops and supplies and so it was clearly an excellent area for a Square and Compasses Club.

Recorded, however, is that a Traveling Charter was issued to the North Sea Armed Forces Lodge with the number 829 in 1954, under the newly formed United Grand Lodges of Germany. This allowed the Lodge to perform Rituals and Workings, to Initiate, Pass and Raise Masons without a set Lodge house. In 1955 a Petition for a permanent Charter was approved and in December of that year the North Sea Armed Forces Lodge #829 was officially Consecrated in Bremerhaven, and assigned to the jurisdiction of what would become the American Canadian Grand Lodge.

With time many of the original and later members of the Lodge, according to their duties, returned to the United States of America or Canada, to their families and homes. The Lodge fell dark for a short period until a small group of German Masons, interested in keeping the English language Ritual, Workings and Traditions alive, applied to bring the Light back into the Lodge. This was accepted by both the American Canadian Grand Lodge and the United Grand Lodges of Germany, and the North Sea Armed Forces Lodge #829 resumed working in Bremerhaven in 2011. The Lodge moved to its present home in Bremen in 2014.